Phenomenology of barriers to participatory governance in educational and research institutions

The present study aims to investigate the barriers to the implementation of participatory governance in educational and research institutions in Iran to provide solutions for managers and beneficiaries in higher education. This study was conducted in 2022. By the literature review, the background, definitions, and the areas in which the implementation of participatory governance in educational and research institutions can be inhibited were first investigated. Then, by a phenomenological reduction technique and using in-depth interviews with 15 experts, data were collected and analyzed using thematic analysis method. By categorizing 134 initial codes, 24 sub-themes and four themes were obtained. The barriers to the implementation of participatory governance in educational and research institutions of Iran were: (a) structural, (b) managerial, (c) political/cultural/ social and (d) individual , each of which had different components. The factors and components of the implementation challenges of participatory governance plans go back to the macro level, policymaking and policy formulation, and in the same direction, to create the context, create a participatory culture and precisely determine its programs and tools, in order to involve stakeholders and active people in this field. The results showed that barriers in both macro and micro levels caused the lack of successful implementation of participatory governance in educational and research institutions of Iran. To solve them, it is necessary to take a two-way approach from top-down to bottom-up approaches or vice versa.